As the saying goes (more or less), it's possible for two contradictory things to hold true at the same time, to wit: excellent response to the fatuous letter answer to your initial query; disgusting that it had to be written.
What you have encountered is another instance of the Hasbara Strategy, developed by Nahum Sokolow (1861- 1936), a Jewish journalist and Zionist leader, in the early 20th century as a propaganda strategy initially to present Israel as a resilient victim. After World War II and the holocaust, it expanded to have three main propaganda axes, including the victimhood of the Jews, the necessity of establishing Israel for their survival, and the existence of a permanent threat against Israel.
Sokolow is so revered in Zionist society that there is a prestigious journalism award in his name.
The Circle of Flags is one of those subtle, everyday venues in which Israel could exert a public relations/public image management influence, showing that Israel rightfully belongs among the family of nations, despite there even being some nascent thoughts given to kicking it out of the UN.
Another example is the annual Eurovision Song Contest, "that sparkly, gender-fluid fever dream of a song contest" rather anomalous given that Israel is in the Middle East, but the point is that the event is a marketing opportunity for Israel before a sizeable economic and political bloc. Critics of Israel's participation in the event have pointed out that Israel’s entries function less like songs and more like state-sponsored TikTok ads for “fun, safe, liberal Israel!”
This year, the backlash is louder, with open calls for boycott and disgust that the organizers continue letting Israel twirl on stage while its air force twirls in the skies above Rafah. To quote one activist: “You can’t bomb a refugee camp on Tuesday and then ask for twelve points from Belgium on Saturday.”
Further, an investigation has revealed that Israel attempted to hack the voting process so that its entrant would win this year's contest, thus claiming an important "cultural" win and acceptance and recognition on the world stage. Additionally, the Israeli entrant in the song contest, 24-year old Yuval Raphael, was one of the revelers at the Nova festival on Oct. 7th, and that the lyrics to her song were a (calculated?) paean to a whitewashed “message of embracing each other and bringing hope to each other."
My apologies if this went on too long, but I wanted to lay out in some detail that these are conniving, ruthless, motivated beings attuned to every opportunity to promote themselves and justify their cause, concepts of decency and shame be damned. They thoroughly merit being despised.
well said, XK, and what helps the Israeli effort to appear to be just another among the nations is that the West looks down on the Arabs/Muslims so the fact that the Palestinians have been taking a beating for so many decades from Israel has never been seen as consequential. This also explains how easily Zionism was able to sell Israel to the West when the West did not want to take the survivors of the holocaust. It was seen to be of little importance that the Palestinians would be evicted/killed to make way for Israel because as Arabs they were dispensable. It was only the latest example of racism in the history of European expansion.
Did you notice how Trump complained about the loss of life that would occur if Israel and Iran were to continue to go at it...but Palestinian lives lost in the tens of thousands are disregarded in his atrocious plan for real estate development in Gaza! We certainly know he cares nothing about Mexican lives.
"... what helps the Israeli effort to appear to be just another among the nations is that the West looks down on the Arabs/Muslims... "
Yes, and that Western attitude goes back a long way, at least to WWI when Britain and France were anxious to pick up the remains of the Ottoman Empire and started redrawing the world map with such contrivances as the Sykes-Picot Agreement and the Balfour Declaration [here's a telling footnote, I can still recall from 6th grade - 6th grade! - when during a geography lesson, the teacher corrected our pronunciation of "Beirut" not as it's spelled, but to the French version "Bay-roo"].
Further example is seen in popular culture with that line from "Lawrence of Arabia" in which Peter O'Toole/T.E. Lawrence says, "“So long as the Arabs fight tribe against tribe, so long will they be a little people, a silly people, greedy, barbarous, and cruel,” which apparently isn't a just a liberty taken by the screenwriters but actually taken verbatim from Lawrence himself.
For certain Western perceptions of the Arabs, in addition to its innate condescension, has been aided, abetted, and stoked by the Zionist view of the Arabs right off the bat with Herzl, and such attitudes as expressed by Gold Meir...
"One of the first sights that shocked me, when I came to Israel in 1921, was an Arab turning over a field with a very primitive plow; pulling the plow were an ox and a woman. Now, if it means that we have destroyed this romantic picture by bringing in tractors, combines, and threshing machines, this is true: we have."
Again, Nahum Sokolov's Hasbara Strategy at full tilt - for a brief bio on him see https://www.myoldnewland.com/post/nahum-sokolow, and it's no wonder there's an annual prestigious - well, in Israel anyway - journalism award given in his name.
XK you are informed and outraged, just as I am and what I would hope would be the condition of all Americans regarding Zionism, but the opposite is the case. People are ignorant and apathetic if not at least vaguely fold of Israel.
I must confess that I, too, was in the same category for far too long. It is easy for Americans to be ignorant and indifferent because we have always been sheltered from what our country does abroad. But now our government right here at home is under Zionist control as it engages in a slaughter of native people at the same time blaming them and claiming to be the victims of them.
In a democracy citizens have to stay informed and ready to act or all is lost. With our presidents either admittedly Zionist (Biden) or effectively Zionist (Trump) we are all but lost. There is a tiny core of non-Zionists in Congress and the victory of Mandani in NYC is encouraging but there is a very long way to go.
There are those around me who are supportive and encouraging to me. I hope that is the case for you, too. The tide is turning.
“People are ignorant and apathetic if not at least vaguely fold of Israel… I must confess that I, too, was in the same category for far too long. It is easy for Americans to be ignorant and indifferent because we have always been sheltered from what our country does abroad … In a democracy citizens have to stay informed and ready to act or all is lost.”
Sufficiently comprehensive examination of these points would entail giga-galaxies of discussion. For expediency’s sake, I submit the familiar “If I knew then what I know now…”
“There are those around me who are supportive and encouraging to me. I hope that is the case for you, too.”
Fortunately I have friends who see what’s going on, though are not fully aware of the depths of depravity and ruthlessness of the Zionists. The in-law family is at the level of the (mis-, dis-) information of the general population.
“The tide is turning.”
That’s my visceral sense as well, albeit based on a rather thin “knowledge base”:
· A good chunk of the public doesn’t seem doesn't seem to be buying, indeed is even critical of, the “bunker busting bombing by B-2 bulls***”
· Among the online comments to articles in the Boston, there seems to be quantitatively and qualitatively much more immediate, informed, pointed, no-holds-barred reaction to the vapid reporting in the paper and to the odious comment of Zionist apologists. So Israel and the Zionists may be witnessing the beginning of the end of their decades- if not century-long public image campaign,
As they say, "Stay tuned to this station for further developments..."
no apologies necessary, XK; you have elucubrated w/ sufficient breadth that i'm gratified for your sharing that depth of knowledge w/ clif's readers. your contribution is an altogether 'coup de foudre'.
· You may recall that I was rather encouraged over the rather prompt, meaningful response I had received from the staffer at my state senator’s office. This was with regard to the provision in a supplementary budget bill containing the line item for $5,000,000 to support the Boston Holocaust Museum, neither the architectural planning nor educational offerings for which involve any mention whatsoever of the genocide in Gaza, and thus does not merit public support. I had stated to this staffer that if the senator does not share my pointed criticism, nor would read my objection into the public record when it came time for the vote, I asked him to research for me how I might be able to so as an interested citizen.
Thus far it’s turning out to be (yet) another instance of my having fallen off the turnip truck, the staffer has gone dark on me after three e-mails to him with “Hello, still there…?” in the body of them.
· Clif, any update on how that campaign for Congress is going for that Palestinian woman Kat Abughazaleh?
· In my regular monitoring of/throwing it back to the Zionists in the Boston Globe online comments, I came across a kindred guerrilla fighter who entered the following link with the terse “Let’s see how long this stays up” caveat https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KcW3eOaivLA. About only three minutes in length, it is a slashingly wicked, encompassing, deft, sophisticated, sublime evisceration of Israeli and Zionist pretense. I needed the laugh, and if you feel the need for one as well, give it click.
Kat is moving right along and according to the latest poll she is in the top three for the seat in Congress, second behind my Zionist mayor, Daniel Biss, who previously tried for the IL governorship. Kat is on Instagram if you want to hear her speak. Her delivery is blessedly free of "like", "I mean" and "you know" that are so commonly heard these days in her age group. She radiates confidence and I think will be great in debate.
Thanks, sounds encouraging. Having donated to her campaign, I get some updates, she comes across as incisive, "the real McCoy." If the local press gives endorsements I hope they do their job properly, rather than follow "The AIPAC Guide to Political Endorsements."
I am going to make it a point to attend any debate and ask Daniel Biss what he has refused to answer in my emails to him: do you support liberty and justice for all or its opposite, Zionism?
Okay, good luck, here's hoping not only you get a chance at the mike, but that the local media will feature you in their coverage, perhaps even better for dramatic effect as security hustles you out.
Control of the narrative, maybe the Zionists are beginning to lose control over it. Two articles running in the Boston Globe since yesterday, one about further efforts to stop federal funding at Harvard over alleged antisemitism, and a Mass. ADL lawsuit against one - that's right, one - unsubstantiated but overly hyped instance of antisemitism against the Concord, Mass. school system. Judging by online comments to these articles, people aren't buying the spiels.
As the saying goes (more or less), it's possible for two contradictory things to hold true at the same time, to wit: excellent response to the fatuous letter answer to your initial query; disgusting that it had to be written.
What you have encountered is another instance of the Hasbara Strategy, developed by Nahum Sokolow (1861- 1936), a Jewish journalist and Zionist leader, in the early 20th century as a propaganda strategy initially to present Israel as a resilient victim. After World War II and the holocaust, it expanded to have three main propaganda axes, including the victimhood of the Jews, the necessity of establishing Israel for their survival, and the existence of a permanent threat against Israel.
Sokolow is so revered in Zionist society that there is a prestigious journalism award in his name.
Hasbara, generally misunderstood simply to mean “explanation” or “enlightenment” or "propaganda," refers to far more than that, it refers to Israel’s efforts to legitimize its actions and influence global public opinion. This strategy is implemented through content production on social media, media houses, lobbying, and training of media activists [see, for example https://iqbalforum.org/en/article/politics-en/hasbara-israels-propaganda-strategy/ and https://mepc.org/speeches/hasbara-and-control-narrative-element-strategy/].
The Circle of Flags is one of those subtle, everyday venues in which Israel could exert a public relations/public image management influence, showing that Israel rightfully belongs among the family of nations, despite there even being some nascent thoughts given to kicking it out of the UN.
Another example is the annual Eurovision Song Contest, "that sparkly, gender-fluid fever dream of a song contest" rather anomalous given that Israel is in the Middle East, but the point is that the event is a marketing opportunity for Israel before a sizeable economic and political bloc. Critics of Israel's participation in the event have pointed out that Israel’s entries function less like songs and more like state-sponsored TikTok ads for “fun, safe, liberal Israel!”
This year, the backlash is louder, with open calls for boycott and disgust that the organizers continue letting Israel twirl on stage while its air force twirls in the skies above Rafah. To quote one activist: “You can’t bomb a refugee camp on Tuesday and then ask for twelve points from Belgium on Saturday.”
Further, an investigation has revealed that Israel attempted to hack the voting process so that its entrant would win this year's contest, thus claiming an important "cultural" win and acceptance and recognition on the world stage. Additionally, the Israeli entrant in the song contest, 24-year old Yuval Raphael, was one of the revelers at the Nova festival on Oct. 7th, and that the lyrics to her song were a (calculated?) paean to a whitewashed “message of embracing each other and bringing hope to each other."
My apologies if this went on too long, but I wanted to lay out in some detail that these are conniving, ruthless, motivated beings attuned to every opportunity to promote themselves and justify their cause, concepts of decency and shame be damned. They thoroughly merit being despised.
well said, XK, and what helps the Israeli effort to appear to be just another among the nations is that the West looks down on the Arabs/Muslims so the fact that the Palestinians have been taking a beating for so many decades from Israel has never been seen as consequential. This also explains how easily Zionism was able to sell Israel to the West when the West did not want to take the survivors of the holocaust. It was seen to be of little importance that the Palestinians would be evicted/killed to make way for Israel because as Arabs they were dispensable. It was only the latest example of racism in the history of European expansion.
Did you notice how Trump complained about the loss of life that would occur if Israel and Iran were to continue to go at it...but Palestinian lives lost in the tens of thousands are disregarded in his atrocious plan for real estate development in Gaza! We certainly know he cares nothing about Mexican lives.
"... what helps the Israeli effort to appear to be just another among the nations is that the West looks down on the Arabs/Muslims... "
Yes, and that Western attitude goes back a long way, at least to WWI when Britain and France were anxious to pick up the remains of the Ottoman Empire and started redrawing the world map with such contrivances as the Sykes-Picot Agreement and the Balfour Declaration [here's a telling footnote, I can still recall from 6th grade - 6th grade! - when during a geography lesson, the teacher corrected our pronunciation of "Beirut" not as it's spelled, but to the French version "Bay-roo"].
Further example is seen in popular culture with that line from "Lawrence of Arabia" in which Peter O'Toole/T.E. Lawrence says, "“So long as the Arabs fight tribe against tribe, so long will they be a little people, a silly people, greedy, barbarous, and cruel,” which apparently isn't a just a liberty taken by the screenwriters but actually taken verbatim from Lawrence himself.
For certain Western perceptions of the Arabs, in addition to its innate condescension, has been aided, abetted, and stoked by the Zionist view of the Arabs right off the bat with Herzl, and such attitudes as expressed by Gold Meir...
"One of the first sights that shocked me, when I came to Israel in 1921, was an Arab turning over a field with a very primitive plow; pulling the plow were an ox and a woman. Now, if it means that we have destroyed this romantic picture by bringing in tractors, combines, and threshing machines, this is true: we have."
But for actual experience of Arabs and Jews living in harmony for centuries, millennia, particularly the Arab Jews in Iraq prior to the ascension of Zionism, you should see this interview of Avi Shlaim with Chris Hedges at https://chrishedges.substack.com/p/the-arab-jew-experience-exposes-the?utm_source=publication-search.
Again, Nahum Sokolov's Hasbara Strategy at full tilt - for a brief bio on him see https://www.myoldnewland.com/post/nahum-sokolow, and it's no wonder there's an annual prestigious - well, in Israel anyway - journalism award given in his name.
"
XK you are informed and outraged, just as I am and what I would hope would be the condition of all Americans regarding Zionism, but the opposite is the case. People are ignorant and apathetic if not at least vaguely fold of Israel.
I must confess that I, too, was in the same category for far too long. It is easy for Americans to be ignorant and indifferent because we have always been sheltered from what our country does abroad. But now our government right here at home is under Zionist control as it engages in a slaughter of native people at the same time blaming them and claiming to be the victims of them.
In a democracy citizens have to stay informed and ready to act or all is lost. With our presidents either admittedly Zionist (Biden) or effectively Zionist (Trump) we are all but lost. There is a tiny core of non-Zionists in Congress and the victory of Mandani in NYC is encouraging but there is a very long way to go.
There are those around me who are supportive and encouraging to me. I hope that is the case for you, too. The tide is turning.
“People are ignorant and apathetic if not at least vaguely fold of Israel… I must confess that I, too, was in the same category for far too long. It is easy for Americans to be ignorant and indifferent because we have always been sheltered from what our country does abroad … In a democracy citizens have to stay informed and ready to act or all is lost.”
Sufficiently comprehensive examination of these points would entail giga-galaxies of discussion. For expediency’s sake, I submit the familiar “If I knew then what I know now…”
“There are those around me who are supportive and encouraging to me. I hope that is the case for you, too.”
Fortunately I have friends who see what’s going on, though are not fully aware of the depths of depravity and ruthlessness of the Zionists. The in-law family is at the level of the (mis-, dis-) information of the general population.
“The tide is turning.”
That’s my visceral sense as well, albeit based on a rather thin “knowledge base”:
· A good chunk of the public doesn’t seem doesn't seem to be buying, indeed is even critical of, the “bunker busting bombing by B-2 bulls***”
· Among the online comments to articles in the Boston, there seems to be quantitatively and qualitatively much more immediate, informed, pointed, no-holds-barred reaction to the vapid reporting in the paper and to the odious comment of Zionist apologists. So Israel and the Zionists may be witnessing the beginning of the end of their decades- if not century-long public image campaign,
As they say, "Stay tuned to this station for further developments..."
no apologies necessary, XK; you have elucubrated w/ sufficient breadth that i'm gratified for your sharing that depth of knowledge w/ clif's readers. your contribution is an altogether 'coup de foudre'.
If you don’t mind, some miscellanea from me…
· You may recall that I was rather encouraged over the rather prompt, meaningful response I had received from the staffer at my state senator’s office. This was with regard to the provision in a supplementary budget bill containing the line item for $5,000,000 to support the Boston Holocaust Museum, neither the architectural planning nor educational offerings for which involve any mention whatsoever of the genocide in Gaza, and thus does not merit public support. I had stated to this staffer that if the senator does not share my pointed criticism, nor would read my objection into the public record when it came time for the vote, I asked him to research for me how I might be able to so as an interested citizen.
Thus far it’s turning out to be (yet) another instance of my having fallen off the turnip truck, the staffer has gone dark on me after three e-mails to him with “Hello, still there…?” in the body of them.
· Clif, any update on how that campaign for Congress is going for that Palestinian woman Kat Abughazaleh?
· In my regular monitoring of/throwing it back to the Zionists in the Boston Globe online comments, I came across a kindred guerrilla fighter who entered the following link with the terse “Let’s see how long this stays up” caveat https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KcW3eOaivLA. About only three minutes in length, it is a slashingly wicked, encompassing, deft, sophisticated, sublime evisceration of Israeli and Zionist pretense. I needed the laugh, and if you feel the need for one as well, give it click.
Kat is moving right along and according to the latest poll she is in the top three for the seat in Congress, second behind my Zionist mayor, Daniel Biss, who previously tried for the IL governorship. Kat is on Instagram if you want to hear her speak. Her delivery is blessedly free of "like", "I mean" and "you know" that are so commonly heard these days in her age group. She radiates confidence and I think will be great in debate.
Thanks, sounds encouraging. Having donated to her campaign, I get some updates, she comes across as incisive, "the real McCoy." If the local press gives endorsements I hope they do their job properly, rather than follow "The AIPAC Guide to Political Endorsements."
I am going to make it a point to attend any debate and ask Daniel Biss what he has refused to answer in my emails to him: do you support liberty and justice for all or its opposite, Zionism?
Okay, good luck, here's hoping not only you get a chance at the mike, but that the local media will feature you in their coverage, perhaps even better for dramatic effect as security hustles you out.
Control of the narrative, maybe the Zionists are beginning to lose control over it. Two articles running in the Boston Globe since yesterday, one about further efforts to stop federal funding at Harvard over alleged antisemitism, and a Mass. ADL lawsuit against one - that's right, one - unsubstantiated but overly hyped instance of antisemitism against the Concord, Mass. school system. Judging by online comments to these articles, people aren't buying the spiels.